Feeder for screw slotting machine



Aug. 27, 1957 E. ROY

FEEDER FOR SCREW SLOTTING Original Filed Dec. 4, 1953 MACHINE 2Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. E/V/L For W, i mam? E. ROY

FEEDER FOR SCREW SLOTTING MACHINE Aug. 27, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Original Filed Dec. 4, 1953 INVENTOR. Err/ Po K BY 77707FNE).

asetzss Patented Aug. 27, 1957 FEEDER FOR scnaw srorrnso MACHINE EmilRoy, Windsor, Conn.

Original application December 4, 1953, Serial No. 396,182, now PatentNo. 2,745,571, dated May 15, 1956. Divided and this application February10, 1955, Serial No. 487,264

6 Claims. (Cl. 221-21) Thisinvention relates to a feeder for screwslotting machin e and more particularly to improved means in such amachine for terminating its operation upon the entry of an oversizescrew blank into the carrier wheel thereof; this application being adivision of my co-pending application Serial No. 396,182, filed December4, 1953, and now Patent No. 2,745,571.

The instant invention is utilized to great advantage in a screw slottingmachine of the type employing a rotatable carrier wheel having radialnotches in a face thereof which receive the shanks of the screw blanksfrom a track extending perpendicularly to said face and which conveyssaid blanks to the carrier wheel from a suitable hopper. A stationaryarcuate retaining plate is disposed adjacent said face of the carrierwheel and is adapted to be engaged by the shanks of the screw blanksimmediately after they are fed into said notches, and by means of whichsaid blanks are retained in said notches as they are carried in acircular path. The lower portion of the retaining plate is of a greaterthickness than the upper portion, thereby providing a raised surface ora clamping section on the face of the retaining plate which isengaged bythe shanks of the blanks carried therepast and by means of which saidblanks are clamped tightly in their respective notches against rotationand radial movement while they are carried past the slotting saw whichcuts a screw driver slot in the head of each blank.

In machines of this type, it is possible for a screw blank havingan'oversize shank to be delivered from the track member into one of thenotches in the carrier wheel without detection. However, if such a blankis carried into Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating the retainingplate embodying the instant invention and the supporting plate uponwhich it is carried.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the carrier wheel and the retaining plateillustrating the relative positions which they occupy when assembled inthe machine.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional end view taken on line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an exploded isometric view illustrating the head at the freeend of the arm on the retaining plate and the springs carried thereby.

Fig. 6 is a top view, on an enlarged scale, of the car- I rier wheel andthe retaining plate when the slotting machine is operating normally.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary elevational view further illustrating theconstruction of my novel retaining plate.

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 6, illustrating the operation of thespring means on the retaining plate.

Fig. 9 is a plan View, similar to Fig. 6, illustrating the positionassumed by the resilient arm on the retaining plate upon the entry of anoversize blank into one of engagement with the clamping section of theretaining plate, it will, due to its larger shank diameter, force theface of the carrier wheel awayfrom the clamping section of the retainingplate so that the adjacent screw blanks of proper size are not tightlyclamped as they enter the clamping section and are liable to be pulledradially from their notches in the carrier wheel upon engagement withthe slotting sawand severely damage or break said saw.

It is, therefore, extremely important that oversize blanks be preventedfrom entering the clamping section of the retaining plate, and it is theprimary object of this invention to provide improved means for detectingthe presence of an oversize blank as soon as it enters'the carrier wheeland for immediately terminating the operation of the machine.

The many objects of this invention are realized by providing a resilientarm on the retaining platehaving a free end adjacent the feed-in pointfor the screw blanks; said arm bein" adapted to operate a switch forshutting off the machine upon the entry of an oversize blank into one ofthe notches in the carrier wheel. This and other objects of the presentinvention will be more clearly understood from the following descriptionand the accompanying drawings in which:

:Fig. 1 is an elevational view illustrating the face of the rotatablecarrier wheel.

the notches in the carrier wheel and the manner in which the shut-oftswitch is operated thereby.

Referring now to the drawing, wherein the pertinent parts of the screwslotting machine embodying my invention are illustrated, it will benoted that said machine includes a circular carrier wheel Shaving anannular flange 6 extending from its face in which is formed a pluralityof radially disposed, equally spaced, V-shaped notches 7. The carrierwheel has a centrally disposed opening 8 therethrough which receives ashaft 9, to which said carrier Wheel is keyed, and said shaft is rotatedby suitable driving means (not shown) to cause rotation of the carrierwheel,

A supporting plate 10 is secured to a base member 11 of the machine bymeans of bolts or the like which extend through holes 12 therein and,when assembled in the machine, said plate and carrier wheel are disposedin parallel relation at an angle of approximately'thirty degrees to thevertical, as shown in Fig. 3. The shaft 9 extends through the opening 8in the carrier Wheel and into a suitable bearing 13 in the supportingplate to thereby firmly support said wheel. The upper portion of thesupporting plate 10 contains a radial slot 14 which receives elongatedflat bars, or track members, 15 and 15a that extend perpendicularly tothe face of the carrier wheel from the hopper (not shown) of the machineand form the conveyor track for the screw blanks. Said track members aredisposed with their opposed flat surfaces in parallel spaced relationand their upper edges 15-b and 15-0, respectively, coplanar and lying ina plane substantially tangent to the periphery of the carrier wheel. Thescrew blanks are supported on said upper edges by their heads and theshanks of said blanks hang downwardly between the fiat sides of said.members. The track member 15 is adjustably supported by adjustingscrews, such as shown at 16, which permit its adjustment towards andaway from the stationary track member 15a, that is secured to the plate10 by screw 17, to' ac-- 19 in the periphery of the supporting platewhich provides a flat supporting surface 20 thereon for a purpose to behereinafter described.

An arcuate retaining plate 21 is'fastened to the surface of thesupporting plate 10by means of cap screws ich e en t ough hbles ai pporiaapl e.

and is disposed with its retaining surface 21-0 spaced from and facingthe notches 7 in the carrier wheel; said retaining ,plate..beingslightly. wider than the flange 6, p but having: its peripheryflush with that: of the ;carrier. wheel as shown in Fig. 4. The upperendg pgrtionz 2359f; theretaining plate 21 is suitably formed =toprovide: a relatively thin resilient arm- ,-24 t-which' extends afromthe rigid portion of the retainingplateand has atits free-rend a head25.;which is disposediinfront of thenotch 18 in the supporting plate.The free end 25-11 of thehead 25 ex? tends. perpendicularlyto.jtheretainingig surface 21-.a and is disposedLin alignment with theinnerflat surface of the;

stationary track member +a;'. and the- -peripl1 eral .-sur;

faceof said head is flush 1with';thewupper'edges-l5 b and ;=15-c=,ofthetrack members;- The said head contains,

at the forward corner thereohuarnotch 26 :wh-ichiextends inwardly; "fromthe retaining surfaceyand the ,bottom of said; notch; has; a stepforming a :platform 26 b; The rear surface of ,thehead contains :aseparate; but shallower, n0tch:27I'thus spacing the: rearsurfaceofthehead from. theendof the.stationary track member 151-a .as-illustrated. in Fig. 6.

Theanotcht26in the frontofthe head containsa phirality of springmembers, the innermostof which' is in the form of a flat leaf spring 28WhiChiiS supportedon' the-.platform 26-h: to. spacesaid spring from thebottom of 'the 'notch and issprovided with'a-heel portion 28aofincreased thickness. The free outer edge of the spring. 28 terminatesin alignment with the end ofthe head 25 and the. inner surface of thestationary track. member.

The remaining spring members contained within the 1 notch 26 are in theform of flat L-shaped springs29, 30 1 and 31 of progressively smallersize, each of which has a perpendicularly extending finger 29a, 30-a and31-a,

respectively. Said springs are disposed in nestedrelation with the freeends of the fingers-terminating flush with the surface ZI-a of the arm24, andthe said fingers are-of increased thickness to reduce the spacetherebetween. The largest spring member 29is supported against the heelportion 28a of the leaf spring 28 to thereby space said spring membersapart, and the side of the perpendicular finger 29 a thereof is disposedin alignment with the inner surface of the stationary track member 15and the ends=of thehead 25 and the spring 28. The spring members 30 and31 are spaced apart by spacers 32 -32 and a filler block 33 is securedagainst the outer. most spring 31 with-its outer flatsurfaceflush-withthe retaining surface 21-a.

A'flat leaf spring'34-,-similar to' the leaf spring 28; is'

received in the notch 27 inthe rear surface. of the head and saidspringmemberhas a heel 34-a of increased thickness which rests againstthe bottom of the notch'27 and spaces the remainder of the springtherefrom. Said spring extends into the space between saidhead and theend of the stationary track member 15 and terminates inalignmentwith'its inner surface. The spring members; spacer blocks32-'-32 and the filler block 33 are secured to the head by screws3535which pass through holes therein and are threaded to said fillerblock. It will be noted that the spring member 34 reduces the width ofthe space between the head 25 and the end of the track member 15a, andthat the spring member 28 reduces .the.width of the space between thehead and the back of the spring 29 to thereby prevent the shanks oftheflscrew. blanks, particularly those .of small diameter, from enteringor catchingsin said spaces and disrupting the flow of blanks down theconveyor track. Each of the. spring members carried onthe headisofsubstantially the same widthas the retaining plate and the upper curvededges. thereof are flush with theperipheries of the retaining plate andthe carrier .wheel-and thereby provide a supportingsurface forthe heads.of the,.screw,.blanks or, in eifect, an extensionoftthe trackmembenIS-Ea.

The screw slotting machine includes means (not A micro-switch 39 ofconventional construction iis se cured to the flat surface 20 of thenotch 19 in the periphcry of the'supporting plate and is provided withan actuating button 40 which extends into engagement Withjthe rearsurface of the resilient arm 24 on the retaining plate. Said switch isconnected in the circuit to the motor which drives the machine throughelectrical conductors 41.

In' the normal operation of the machine, the screw blanks, indicated at42, move from the hopper down the conveyor track in which they aresupported by their headsf42-a with the shanks 42'-b of the blanksdepending.-

between the track members 15 and 15-a. As the screw blanksapproach theend of the track, they aresupported at one side on the surface of thehead 25 and finally upon" the .edge ofthezfinger 29-a on the-spring 29.The car rierj-wheel 5 is rotating at a constant speed "in aclockwise-direction, as indicated by the arrows in Figs. 6, 8

and 9, and as each of the notches '7 therein comes into registenwith therow of screwblanks inthe track, theshank of the blank adjacent thefaceof the wheel is gravitally urged into said notch and the screw blank issupi portedtherein by its head whichextendsover the peripheryofthe=carrier wheel at one side, and over the edges of thespringson theretaining plate at the other side. The shanks of said v blanks are thencarried past theends of the spring fingers at the corner of the head 25and over the retaining: plate 21whose retaining surface 21-11 retainssaid blanks in their respective notches.

The lower portion of the retaining plate 21 .is of a greater thicknessthan the upper portion thereof which"v brings its surface 21-b closer tothe face of the flange on thescarrier wheel, as illustrated in Fig. 3,and provides a clamping. section on said retaining plate. A ramp surface43 extendsupwardly from the surface 21'-a of the retaining plate to thesurface 21-b on the clamping sec-' tion thereofi'and a plurality of:slots 44 are cut into the clamping section at an angle to itsface toprovide spring fingers 45 having'theirfree ends facing the flange on thecarrier wheel; As the screw blanks are carried around i in a circularpath by'the carrier wheel, their shanks are urged tightly into thenotches upon engagement with the ramp surface and are securely clampedbetween the faces of the notches and the ends of the spring fingers 45to prevent rotation of the screw blanks as the'heads thereof pass theslotting saw, indicated at 46, which cuts ascrewdriver slot in each ofsaid heads. The spring fingers 45,'which 'are fully described in myco-pending application Serial No. 432,819, filed May 27, 1954, and

now abandoned, assure positive clamping of each blank sincethe-diameters thereof sometimes vary due to manufacturing tolerances. W

7 After the screwvblanks pass beyond the lower end of the retainingplate they drop from the notches in the car-.

rier wheel. into a suitable container. To further guard against radialmovement of the screw blanks in thenotches, an adjustable retainingband47 may be secured to the periphery of the supporting plate 10; said bandbeing provided with a beveled edge 48 which overlies a small portion ofthe heads 42-a .of the screw blanks.

As above mentioned, the weight of the screw blanks inthe track isusually suflicient-to cause entry of the first blank into its respectivenotch in-.the proper manner.-

However, should the first screw blank sin thetrackbe delayed or sloweddown for any reason, it will not enter its respective notch in theconstantly rotating carrier wheel in the proper position, but will bepicked up on the approaching face of the notch as illustrated in Fig. 8.When this occurs, the shank of the screw blank will successively engagethe ends of the spring fingers 29-a, 30-11 and 31-a as it is carriedalong by the wheel 5 and cause said fingers to yield so that; said shankcan pass by the ends thereof in the manner illustrated in Fig. 8. Thesprings will then gradually urge the shank of the screw blank down intoits notch before said shank reaches the end of the filler block 33 andjamming of the machine will thereby be prevented. It will be noted fromFig. 8 that if the first spring member 29 is displaced a considerableamount upon engagement by the shank of a screw blank, it will engage andbend the leaf spring 28 there behind which causes an additional force tobe applied to the shank for urging it rapidly into proper position inits notch in the carrier wheel.

Referring now to Fig. 9, it will be seen that if a screw blank,illustrated in an exaggerated manner at 42-0, having a shank diametergreater than that for which the machine is adjusted should enter one ofthe notches in the carrier wheel, it will be carried thereby past thespring fingers and into engagement with the face of the filler block 33.The oversize blank will then urge the head 25 in a rearward directionand bend the resilient arm 24 on said retaining plate. This will, inturn, cause depression of the actuating button 40 on the micro-switchwhich will cause operation of said switch to immediately shut off themachine.

It will be noted that as the head is moved rearwardly upon engagement bythe oversize blank, the spring member 34 is carried into engagement withthe end of the stationary track member 15 and yields to permit movementof said head.

The oversize blank may be removed from the carrier wheel by moving thebase member 11, upon which the retaining plate is carried, away from thecarrier wheel. The arm 24- will return to its normal position and afterthe retaining plate is again properly adjusted relatively to the carrierwheel, the machine may again be put into operation. It will be notedthat the nuts 38 on the stud 36 limit the return of the head 25 on theretaining plate to its normal position as illustrated in Fig. 6.

I claim:

1. In a screw slotting machine, a movable carrier member having aplurality of notches in a face thereof adapted to receive the shanks ofscrew blanks, a pair of spaced track members extending perpendicularlyto said face for feeding blanks into said notches; the end of one ofsaid track members being spaced from said face a greater disance thanthe other, a retaining member adjacent said face of the carrier memberadapted to engage the shanks of the blanks and retain them in saidnotches and having a free end portion disposed between said end of thetrack member and said face of the. carrier member and forming anextension of said track member; said end portion of the retaining memberbeing movable away from the carrier member upon engagement thereof bythe shank of an oversize blank in one of said notches, and means operable by said end portion for terminating the operation of the machine.

2. In a screw slotting machine, a movable carrier member having aplurality of notches'in a face thereof adapted to receive the shanks ofscrew blanks, a pair of spaced track members extending perpendicularlyto said face for feeding blanks into said notches; the end of one ofsaid track members being spaced from said face a greater distance thanthe other, a retaining plate having a retaining surface adjacent saidface of the carrier member adapted to engage the shanks of the blanksand retain them in said notches; said retaining plate including a resilient arm having a free end portion disposed in the space between saidend of the track member and the carrier member and spaced from saidtrack member to permit rearward movement of said arm upon engagement ofthe retaining surface thereof by an oversize blank in one of saidnotches, resilient means disposed between said end of the track memberand the free end of said arm to prevent entry of the shanks of the screwblanks -therebetween, and switch means operable upon moveber having aplurality of notches in a face thereof of a size to receive the shank ofa single screw blank, means for feeding blanks into said notches,retaining means adjacent said face of the carrier member for retainingsaid blanks in said notches, said retaining means including a fixedstationary member having a retaining and clamping surface adjacent andspaced from said face of the carrier member adapted to engage the shanksof blanks carried therepast and retain and clamp them in said notchesduring the slotting operation, and a movable member extending from saidfixed stationary member and terminating at the point where said blanksenter said notches; said movable member having a blank retaining andguiding surface extending therealong adjacent and in spaced relation tosaid face of the carrier member and joining said retaining and clampingsurface, said retaining and guiding surface being normally adapted toengage the shanks of blanks carried therepast and retain them in saidnotches, whereby said movable member normally serves as a blank retainerand guide while being adapted to move away from said face of the carriermember upon engagement of said retaining and guiding surface by theshank of an oversize blank in one of said notches, and means operableupon movement of said movable member for terminating the operation ofsaid carrier member before said oversize blank reaches said retainingand clamping surface.

5. In a screw slotting machine, a movable carrier member having aplurality of notches in a face thereof of a size to receive the shank ofa single screw blank, means for feeding blanks into said notches, aretaining plate adjacent said face of the carrier member for retainingsaid blanks in said notches, said retaining plate including a fixedstationary section having a retaining and clamping surface adjacent andspaced from said face of the carrier member adapted to engage the shanksof blanks carried therepast and retain and clamp them in said notchesduring the slotting operation, and an integral, resilient, free 'armextending from the end of said fixed stationary section and terminatingat the point where said blanks enter said notches; said arm having ablank retaining and guiding surface extending therealong adjacent and inspaced relation to said face of the carrier member and joining saidretaining and clamping surface; said retaining and guiding surface beingnormally adapted to engage the shanks of blanks carried therepast andretain them in said notches, whereby said arm normally serves as a blankguide while being adapted to yield in a direction away from said face ofthe carrier member upon engagement of said retaining and guiding surfaceby the shank of an oversize blank in one of said notches, and meansoperable by said arm upon movement thereof for terminating the operationof said carrier member before said oversize blank reaches said retainingand clamping surface.

6. In a screw slotting machine, a movable carrier member having aplurality of notches in a face thereof of a size to receive the shank ofa single screw blank, means for feeding blanks into said notches, aretaining plate adjacent said face of the carrier member for retainingsaid blanks in said notches, said retaining plate including a fixed stationary-section havingja retaining and c1ampingsurface adjacent-andspa'ced from*said face"of the carrier-- member adapted=to engage ftheshanls of blanks carried therepast and clamp them in-said' notchesduring-the slotting'operation, and an integral; resilient, free armextend ing froxmthe end obsaid' fixedstationary-sectionand terminatingat the point where said blanks enter said notches; said armhavinga-blank retaining-and guiding surface extending therealongadjacent said 'faceof the carrier member and spaced therefrom a greaterdistance thansaid clamping surfaceadapted to engage the shanks ofblankscarried therepast and retain them in said notches; 1 an intermediatesurface onsaid retain'ingplateextending from saidblank retaining "andguiding'surfaceutosaid clamping surface, WhETGbYSBid arm normal-lyserves-as 15" 8 a bianligguidewhile heingadapted to yield'in a directionblank reaches-the retaining and clamping-surface.

RefrencesCited inthe file-0f thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,339,638Henszey et-al. Ian. 18, 1944 2,621,343 Fray-en. Dec .1 6, 1952 2,657,403Eade et a1.- Nov. 3, 1953

